Vietnam: new investment in infrastructure sector

The infrastructure sector in Vietnam presents excellent opportunities. The government of the Asian country, which has been experiencing considerable economic growth for years, has decided to invest large sums in the construction or modernization of the infrastructure needed to support the development of the Vietnamese economy. Specifically, the Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, has estimated that in the next five years, $139 billion will be needed for investments in ports, roads, railways, and airports.

The value in billions of US dollars of infrastructure projects from 2010-2015 was estimated as follows: 52 billion USD for transportation; 8 billion USD for the port sector; 14.4 billion USD for roads and bridges; 20 billion USD for railways and subways; 9.6 billion USD for the airport sector.

Despite progress over the past five years, investment in construction and infrastructure has not kept pace with GDP growth.This is precisely why we believe that, thanks in part to government incentives aimed not only at attracting investment, technology and know-how foreign investment, but with approximately 91% of GDP being invested in the sector’s development, the outlook is extremely promising for Italian companies willing to enter the Vietnamese market. Progress is slow but steady.

According to recent statistics, nearly 88.1% of foreign companies and 83.1% of local companies describe Vietnam’s infrastructure as very poor; furthermore, 95.61% of foreign commercial enterprises (involved in import/export) rate the quality of Vietnam’s infrastructure extremely negatively. Today, there are approximately 90 projects being implemented by private investors with combined funding of $7.1 billion from various sources. Some Italian banks and companies have already begun to test the waters, considering the market opportunities.

Our presence on the ground guarantees us the opportunity to see firsthand what could be the best opportunities for foreign investors. In our opinion, the most interesting and potentially most profitable sectors today are bridge and road construction, and the port sector.

Il settore marittimo infatti, che può contare infatti su un totale di 126 terminali portuali  e 266 moli, presenta diverse lacune: dallo scarso equipaggiamento tecnico, alla mancanza di infrastrutture adiacenti, dalla mancanza di integrazione tra i differenti mezzi di trasporto alla mancanza di moli per barche di grandi dimensioni. Per quanto riguarda strade e ponti, vi è da registrare un continuo incremento in termini di chilometraggio: si è passati da 96mila km di rete stradale nel 1990 a 224mila km nel 2004; nel caso di strade statali invece, l’incremento è stato da 15mila a 17mila km. Inoltre il Primo Ministro ha recentemente approvato un piano al fine di costruire 3.041 km di autostrade lungo la costa.

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